Phinsider Radio show notes: With the No. 6 pick in the 2021 NFL draft, the Miami Dolphins select Jaylen Waddle, destroyer of angles

Phinsider Radio show notes forMay 19, 2021.

With the sixth pick in the 2021 NFL draft, the Miami Dolphins selected Jaylen Waddle, receiver from Alabama.

What is Waddle’s skill set?

• Speed
• Route-running
• The ability to maintain speed and control while running different routes

1. Not a Mike Wallace with straight-line speed.

• “Separation”
• YAC

1. Absorbing contact, saw him take a smack in the helmet on a kick return (kind of where Jakeem got clobbered twice against Cinci) and just walk it off and into the end zone.
2. Defenses are doomed if he is hit in stride in one-on-one coverage.

Why did Miami pick him?

• If Jakeem Grant played at a higher level, I am not saying elite, but made plays and didn’t drop balls, would Waddle still have been the pick?
• The best possible upgrade for a receiving core that needs to create separation.
• “I think he requires two players to cover him. When you can add that type of player and that player can move around within an offense, that causes defenses a lot of problems, and he does that because of his speed, his quickness, his explosiveness. - Flores on Waddle recently.

DeVonte Smith vs. Jaylen Waddle

• Both played in Weeks 1-4 before Waddle suffered an ankle injury.
• Didn’t play until the College Football Playoff National Championship game.

1. “Had to be out there with my team,” he said.

Games 1-4

Yards; Touchdowns; Yards per route; Receiver rating.

Smith 483; 4; 3.63; 129.

Waddle 557; 4; 4.68; 158.

Where does he fit inside of Miami’s offense?

From 2020 receiver show for some perspective:

Question 1: Is wide receiver a weakness or strength for the Dolphins

• It wasn’t a “need” in the 2020 NFL draft so I wouldn’t label it a weakness, but this group could look pretty different in just one year.